


The Moon Reflects The Stars That Guide Us

by serenity_of_silence



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Beck loves her anyway, Beck's a writer, Beck/Andre/Robbie Friendship, Cat/Jade/Tori friendship, F/M, I listened to Africa by Toto on repeat for this, Jade's a barista, Jade's terrible at making coffee, Short & Sweet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, coffee shop AU, go stream Africa by Toto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:41:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29923242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenity_of_silence/pseuds/serenity_of_silence
Summary: Beck Oliver hates the cliché of writers falling in love at a coffee shop, until he doesn't(Or; An alternate-universe oneshot in which Beck's a writer and Jade's a barista at a local coffee shop)
Relationships: Beck Oliver/Jade West
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	The Moon Reflects The Stars That Guide Us

**Author's Note:**

> this took way too long to write :) i suggest you listen to Africa by Toto while you read it <3 enjoyyy

_"I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop_   
_I love so much_   
_All of the while, I never knew, All of the while_   
_It was you"_

* * *

Beck Oliver despises _those_ writers. He hates writers who have to be situated in a coffee shop with the rain pouring outside and a hot latte placed in front of them just so they’re able to write. He believes that to be a true writer, you should be able to write anywhere. No matter where you are, it should just come to you. You shouldn’t need a specific location for inspiration to find you, inspiration should come from every environment. He thinks people who need to be in a cafe in order to write are completely _cliché (and annoying)._

But then he becomes one of those people that he hates so much. He turns out to be just like them. Because right now, he’s driving to a local Starbucks with a backpack full of notebooks, pens, and his laptop. 

In his defense, it’s totally the fault of his roommates. Ever since Andre and Robbie had joined the theatre department of their university, the _(very small)_ apartment they own had become chaotic and overbearing. 

And it’s not like Beck’s not happy for them, he is. He’s glad they both found something they’re passionate about. It’s just loud. Way too loud for him to focus. And no matter where he goes in their apartment, they always find a way to be distracting. Whether that be rehearsing in the middle of their living room, or forcing him to help them run lines, it’s always a distraction of sorts. 

It’s an especially annoying distraction when his publisher has him on a serious deadline right now and every minute counts. Every second is a second to be wasted and Beck can’t even find the silence to try and come up with an idea for his next novel. He feels like he’s seriously lacking this semester and as much as he loves Andre and Robbie, they aren’t helping. So, with less than two days left to plan out an entire outline for his next book and draft it’s first chapter, he’s off to Starbucks in hopes of finding inspiration (while also crushing any self respect he has for himself). 

He arrives at Starbucks around half an hour later, after taking longer than usual with traffic and then wasting time trying to find a parking space. He ends up parking two blocks away, because everyone _(literally everyone)_ seems to be out and about today and he envies their freedom. The freedom to enjoy the beautiful weather of the chilly autumn day with their groups of family and friends. Meanwhile, he’s alone, walking to a downtown coffee shop in hopes of conjuring up some inspiration while forcing himself to write. 

Opening up the door to Starbucks, the first thing that he notices is that it’s completely _packed._ He’s not kidding when he says if he even tried to walk a little ahead, he would fall right into the line for the register. Every table in the place is occupied by people and he’s sure it’ll take over an hour for one to open up. It’s as if the universe is telling him his writing isn’t supposed to work out today. _Just great._

He looks at the line one last time before rolling his eyes and huffing, turning around and leaving the shop. Looking down at the time on his phone, he realizes it’s only ten in the morning, and if he hurries he can still find another coffee shop to write in. He’s pretty sure there’s a coffee shop on campus, but it’s not open on weekends. So, with a sigh of annoyance, he’s crossing the street and searching for a new cafe. 

Since it’s downtown Los Angeles, coffee shops aren’t uncommon, they’re practically every other building on the street. But Beck wants one that’s vacant and quiet, a place that nobody will bother him in, somewhere he can focus. And after turning the corner of the third block he’s had to walk down, he finally finds one. 

It’s a small black and white brick building, shoved in between a Barnes and Noble and a yoga studio. The name of the coffee shop is _Wake Up Cafe_ and even though Beck’s sure he’s never heard of the place, he finds the name amusing anyways. He peers into the windows quickly to make sure it’s not crowded (thank the universe it’s not) and then he enters the building. 

He smiles as he steps foot into the store, a bell hanging over the door frame going off to signal someone’s come in. He looks around the space and notices the hardwood floors and sage-green painted walls. There’s pictures of downtown hanging around, along with polaroid's of what he assumes to be staff members. There’s hardwood tables set against the walls, along with a few booths, and he instantly finds a spot near a window in the front that'll be perfect to write at. Honestly, despite being hidden from the world, Beck feels he’s found the perfect place to get inspiration from. 

He sets his bag down at the table he’s chosen, grabbing his wallet and then walking up towards the register. There’s a soft tune of a song playing over the store’s speakers and he finds himself humming along to the lyrics of it. Scanning the menu, he doesn’t pay attention to who’s at the register to help him, focusing more on the coffee specials. He’s trying to decide between getting a small blonde roast or just a simple cappuccino when a voice interrupts-

“Hey, what can I get you?”

-and _holy shit_ is the girl at the register the prettiest person he’s ever seen. The first thing he notices about her is her voice, it’s calming and somewhat monotonous, matching the bored expression on her face. 

And that’s what he notices second, her facial features that just seem to match perfectly. Her lips are bow shaped and full, slightly pink with a light amount of liner applied around them. And her eyes are deeply blue and luminous, reflecting the store’s lights in an iridescent way. Her cheekbones and jawline are sharp and defined and they line up perfectly with the way her hair is falling against her, set in a messy braid that rests on her shoulder. A few curly strands of hair have been taken out of the braid and they frame her face in a way that makes her glow.

She has a green top on, pairing it with a matching black skirt and the name tag that’s pinned against the spot of her heart reads _“Jade”_ (suddenly that’s Beck’s new favorite word). He spends a little more time scanning her up and down before his eyes go fall back onto her face and they make eye contact. Her eyebrows are raised as she blinks uncertainly at him, lips slowly twitching upwards into a small smirk. 

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” he asks, clearing his throat in hopes of covering up the uncomfortable silence that’s been partaking for the past minute. 

“Your order” her smirk continues to grow, twisting sideways “what do you want to order?”

“Oh” Beck blinks again, tearing his eyes away from her and glancing back at the menu quickly in attempts to clear the (very evident) blush off of his face. 

After feeling like he’d spent enough time taking in his options and _hopefully_ resolving the flushed tint from his face, he says “can I just get a medium iced cappuccino with two shots of espresso and a blueberry muffin?”

She nods as she thinks over what he said, ringing up his order onto the register while telling him “that comes to $4.67.”

She turns away from the register as he opens up his wallet, grabbing a medium sized plastic cup and a sharpie, facing him again to ask “what’s your name?”

“What?” he asks, looking up from his wallet to gaze at her.

“I need your name for the order” she repeats, chuckling lightly at his fumbling. 

“Oh” he laughs (her laugh must be contagious) and then states “my name’s Beck.”

She writes his name down onto the cup and then takes the five dollar bill out of his hand, fingers grazing over his for just a split second. They both notice the moment, but neither bring it up, instead just sharing a small smile. 

“I’ll let you know when it’s done” she hands him his change and then grabs the cup, walking away from the counter to go make his order. 

He nods but she’s already turned around at that point. He puts the change she’d given him into the tips jar on the counter (it’s the least he can do) and then he wanders back to the table he’d been at before. 

He pulls out his laptop, setting it up in front of him and then taking out his notebook and some highlighters and pens. The notebook is almost entirely empty and right as he’s about to uncap a pen with the goal of filling _said_ notebook up, a voice calls out. 

“Beck” he looks up and sees Jade standing by the end of the counter, his iced coffee and a brown paper bag sitting in front of her. He gets up and walks towards her quickly, offering a soft smile as he takes his coffee and muffin, getting a wink in return from her. The wink makes him pause, stopping in his tracks as he tries to decide if that actually just happened. Yeah it did, he decides, and honestly, his entire body feels like it’s on fire right now just from that small gesture. 

They both turn away at the same time, her going to the back of the cafe as he returns to his seat. As he is nearing his table, he brings the coffee up to his lips and that’s when he almost _chokes_ . It tastes awful, he’s not kidding when he says it is _the most bitter thing_ he’s ever tried. It tastes nothing like an iced cappuccino should and he has to ask himself how someone can even make a coffee taste this bad, _how is it even possible?_

He grimaces down at the cup, forcing himself to swallow the sip he’d just taken. He ponders if maybe only that one sip is bad and if judging the taste of the entire drink this early on is wrong, so he takes another sip. And to his demise, it somehow tastes even worse than the first time. _Unfortunately._

Sighing, he puts the cup down onto the table and takes out the muffin to eat instead. Thankfully (seriously, thank god) it tastes drastically better than the coffee. It’s warm, like it’d just come out of the oven, and the blueberry flavor melts inside his mouth. Even though the pastry tastes good, it also makes him really thirsty so ends up having to take small drinks of the _god awful_ coffee in between bites. 

He writes (tries to at least) for a good ten minutes, none of his ideas stick with him and then he looks back up at the counter. He watches as Jade talks to two other girls, most likely employees too. One is tall with long brown hair tucked into a messy bun and the other is smaller, her vibrantly dyed red hair splayed along her collarbones and shoulders. Both of the girls are looking in his direction, just like Jade is. The brunette murmurs something, the redhead giggling in response and Jade smacks them both in the arm. Jade spares another glance at him and they make eye contact again, his breath hitching in his throat as she smirks at him. 

He knows it’s unrealistic thinking to wonder if this girl has romantic feelings for him just like he has for her, but he can’t stop himself from being hopeful. Her radiant and angelic features seem to just draw him in without him even realizing it and he prays to the universe that she likes him back at least a little. Because he can see himself seriously falling for this girl if she keeps smirking at him and winking (he can also see himself falling out of love with her if more of this terrible coffee keeps coming, but that’s beside the point). 

About an hour later and little to no writing happening, he manages to get at least half the coffee down. He walks over to the trashcan near the counter to throw his stuff away and sees Jade. She’s at the register helping out another customer but spares him a quick glance, teasingly rolling her eyes. 

When he’s back at his seat, he puts his (basically empty) notebook on his lap and then opens up his laptop. He sits there for a few seconds, hoping inspiration will strike him when he’s not expecting it, but to no avail. 

His deadline had come up sooner than he was ready for, he thought he’d have more time to work. For his last published novel (his _only_ published novel) the idea for it came to him during his junior year of highschool, he worked on it during his senior year, and then finished it off in his freshman year of college. 

It’d just recently been published last march, around seven months ago. He was proud of the fact that he’d become a published author at the age of 19, with just one year of college completed. But now, just barely starting his second year, he feels lost as hell. He has no clue what the idea for his next book should be, let alone how to fulfill it. His first book had taken up so much of his time, an idea for his second one had never even crossed his mind. 

Thankfully, the writing department at his university and his publisher had been extremely patient with him. They waited around five months after the release of the first book before letting him know he needed to start working on his second. They’d only given him a few notes on what they wanted for this one, telling him they desired a novel more focused on characters rather than storylines. 

_“Just keep it vulnerable, relatable, and grounded”_ his publisher told him in a meeting. 

But right now, no ideas are coming up at all, his mind is blank. _Well_ , that’s not _entirely_ true actually, his mind’s full of a lot of things surrounding her. Her compelling blue eyes, her curly black hair laced with green streaks, the twist of her upper lip as she smirks at people, and that’s when it hits him. 

Before he can give it a second thought, he’s writing it all down, every detail and mannerism of hers he’s noticed. And when he finally stops writing, an entire page of his notebook has been filled, blue and black ink scattered everywhere. He stares down at the page, checking to make sure he’d actually written all of it, and then he pulls out a highlighter. He reads over the writing and goes over what he deems to be the pivotal parts with a highlighter. 

He’s about to flip to another page of his notebook and keep writing when suddenly something slams down onto the table. He jumps slightly from the startelement and then looks up, seeing Jade. 

She has a playful smile on her face and then gestures towards what she’d put on his table. It’s another coffee cup, matching the one he drank earlier. He picks it up and reads over the order printed on it, the same order he had before. 

“Thought you were working pretty hard over here, I got you another coffee” she shrugs, putting some napkins down onto the table too. 

“You guys give free refills?” he asks, twisting the cup in his hand. 

“No” she smirks, “but I’m giving you one anyway, just don’t tell my boss.” And with that, she’s walking away from the table and Beck feels like he can’t breathe. Because _holy shit_ the pretty barista just made him a free drink and admitted she’d been watching him. He takes back what he said before about not falling for this girl if she keeps giving him shitty coffee, because he’s _definitely_ falling now. 

Beck Oliver’s falling _fast._

He doesn’t get a chance to thank her as she’s already walked back towards the counter, rolling her eyes as the redhead says something to her and claps her hands. He examines the coffee in front of him and pleads with the universe to make it taste better than the first one (it doesn’t). After swallowing down a few sips of the drink he’s almost positive will kill him, he decides to drink the rest because she made it specifically for him and he’s not gonna let it go to waste. Besides, if the drink does end up killing him, least he’ll die having met her. 

He breezes through his outline and gets everything mapped out perfectly, and by the time he’s almost done with his first chapter, he looks down at his phone and sees it’s almost 6pm. He studies the cafe and notices how it’s empty besides him _. And Jade._ Who’s wiping down a few tables and humming along to the song playing over the store speaker. They’re the only two people left in the cafe and he feels bad for staying so late, he hadn’t even realized he’d been so absorbed in his writing. 

He stands up from the table and begins to put his things into his bag while saying, “sorry I stayed so late.”

“It’s no problem” she looks over at the clock on the wall, “you still have around fifteen minutes left before I have to close, you can keep writing if you want.”

He nods and sits back down, attempting to write some more but he’s mostly distracted by the soft singing coming from Jade as she sweeps the floors. She’s wiping down the countertops and continuing to hum when he sees the time reach 6:15. He packs his things in his bag and stands up, pushing in his chair before waving at Jade, who stopped wiping the counter when she heard him begin to get up. 

He leaves through the doors he’d come through in the morning, a mere 8 hours ago, but something feels different. The chilly october air brushes against him and he can’t help but feel like the atmosphere of Los Angeles had changed. Like the town has become different now that he knew Jade was a part of it. 

Something in himself stops him from going straight to his car, pausing outside of the shop to wait for Jade, hoping to be able to walk her to her car. He’s worried meeting her was a once in a lifetime opportunity and if he doesn’t be careful, he’ll never see her again. So, as he rocks back and forth on his heels while standing outside, he decides he’s not about to let that happen. 

He’s still thinking when he hears the door’s overhead bell go off, Jade stepping out of the cafe at the same time. She has a black coat wrapped around her and looks up from her phone when she senses his presence. 

“Beck” she says his name, her voice laced with amusement, “did you forget something inside the store?” 

“No” he laughs and shakes his head, “I just wanted to walk you to your car, it’s the least I can do after you gave me the free coffee and let me stay late.”

“Oh” Jade nods her head, giving him a genuine half smile. “Okay, I parked that way” she points in the direction of down the street and around a corner. 

“Okay, me too.”

She gives him another nod before pulling out a set of keys from her coat pocket and locking the shop doors. After checking to make sure they’re shut securely, she stuffs the keys back into her pocket along with her hands. She turns back towards Beck and says “okay, let’s go.”

They walk at a slow pace, treading down the street as casually as they can. He wonders if she’s purposely going slow so they have more time together (that’s exactly what he’s doing). 

“So…” she begins to talk “you’re a writer?”

“Yeah” he shrugs, “I’m a student too, majoring in English literature.”

“Cool, when I go back to school I’m majoring in journalism” she grins. 

“You go to California State?” he asks, wondering why he’s never seen her around. 

“I’m taking an off year right now to work and save up money, but yeah” she smiles again and then stops in front of a black car, turning to look at him. “This is my car” she takes a hand out of her coat pocket and fumbles with her keys, “thanks for walking me, Beck.”

“Of course” he smiles warmly.

She unlocks the car and slips inside, putting her jacket onto the seat next to her and then buckling her seatbelt. He stays next to the car until she turns it on, waving goodbye to her before walking away. He watches as her car pulls out of the spot she’d been parked in, continuing to look after it until it’s turned down the street and is out of view. 

And when he can no longer see the car’s lights reflecting off of the road, he turns around and begins to walk in the opposite direction, back to his car, hoping he’ll see her again soon. 

* * *

His publisher, editor, and writing department end up loving his new idea. Reading over the draft of his first chapter and the outline, they offer him a few notes before giving him the okay to continue writing. He happily obliges to their suggestions and does his best to make time for writing in between his classes. But it’s difficult, because he can’t seem to concentrate for long enough to be able to write. His mind keeps wandering back to Jade, the girl in the coffee shop, and before he even knows it, all he’s thinking about is her. 

Even Andre and Robbie, who are still wrapped up in their world of theatre, notice that something is up with him. What Beck doesn’t realize is that he’s making it painfully obvious for Andre and Robbie to see, it’s all over his face, and in his eyes. 

And one night over dinner, they finally ask him what’s going on. 

“Are you okay?” Robbie starts out. 

“Yeah, why?” Beck dismisses the question quickly, not noticing anything off about it. 

“You just seem….distant lately, like you’re lost in your own little world” Andre shrugs nonchalantly, trying not to pry information out of him. 

“Really?” Beck looks at them with furrowed brows, not even aware he’d been that way. 

“Yeah, it’s almost like you’re so distant because you met someone new, someone new that you _like_ ” Andre wonders aloud and when Beck stays quiet at the suggestion, realization hits him. “Oh my god Beck, you met someone!”

Andre and Robbie both look at him with wide eyes and open mouths and Beck has to stop himself from blushing. 

_“Maybe I did”_ he shrugs.

And that next Saturday, he’s driving back to the coffee shop with a smile on his face. 

He parks his car closer to the store this time and grabs his bag, locking the vehicle behind him before walking. When he enters the building, he sees that it’s not as empty as last time, still not that crowded though. His table from last time is free and he sets his stuff down before going up to the line of customers forming. 

Jade’s the one running the register again and god does she look even more gorgeous than last time. Her hair’s messily curled and lying against the black dress she’s wearing and her face has an easy going expression on it, lightly chuckling at the two teenageers who are ordering. 

He’s so absorbed with looking at her that he doesn’t even notice when the two teenagers who were standing in front of him have walked away from the register.

“Beck” Jade looks up from the register, motioning him to come forward

“Jade” he greets her back, getting closer to the counter. 

“Come back to do some more writing?”

“That’s what I’m hoping for”

She sincerely laughs at that, taking a cup and marker from the counter before facing him again. 

“Do you want the same as last week?” She uncaps the marker and glances at the menu as he hesitates. He would’ve accepted her offer, if he hadn’t remembered how terrible the coffee from last week was, (luckily) he does remember and he really doesn’t wanna relive that terrible taste. 

“Actually” he tries to come up with an excuse quickly, because he knows he can’t tell her he never wants to drink that god awful cappuccino again, “I wanna try something new, just to see what else you guys have to offer.”

“Alright” she bites the inside of her cheek. 

“What do you recommend?” he asks her, the question coming out flirtier than he intended but she doesn’t seem to mind. Instead, she quickly licks her lip and sets a hand down on the countertop, leaning in closer to him (he _certainly_ doesn’t mind that). 

“You’re asking the wrong person” she shakes her head and laughs a little, “I only drink black coffee.”

His eyes widen at that and he decides to tease her a bit. 

“Only black coffee huh? You’re braver than me”

“Yeah well..” she laughs again with a smile, still leaning in, “my parents always drank it around me when I was growing up, it’s no surprise I ended up loving it.”

Beck smirks at that, and then leans in too, “that’s intense.”

Jade bites her lip at that and then throws her head back slightly as she genuinely laughs, and that’s when Beck decides over everything else he’s accomplished in life, he’ll always be the most proud of himself for making her laugh. Seriously, he could publish a thousand books and none of them would bring about the amount of contentment he feels right now.

“Let me go ask my friend Cat” Jade suggests, “she knows our menu like the back of her hand, she’ll be able to come up with a good drink.”

And with that, she’s leaving her place at the counter and going to the back, approaching the redhead from last week, who’s talking to another employee. 

She taps the redhead on the shoulder _(Cat_ , her name’s _Cat,_ he tries to remember) and then points over towards him. 

Cat’s eyes land on him and light up excitedly, she starts to jump up and down while clapping her hands and Jade shoves her to get her to stop, then says something to her. Cat nods at Jade’s request and looks up at the menu, eyes narrowing at it before responding to her. 

Deeming her suggestion to be workable, Jade turns around and walks away from Cat. Approaching him again, she recommends, “how about a vanilla latte with milk and honey, Cat says it’s one of our bestsellers.”

“Is it sweet?”

 _“Sometimes”_ she smirks and this time he swears she’s flirting with him (if she hadn’t been already).

“Okay, I’ll take a medium vanilla latte with milk and honey then” he takes out his wallet, “and a blueberry muffin too please.”

He pays her the total and then sits back down at the table where’d he left his stuff. Getting everything out that he needs to be able to write without any distractions (okay there may be one distraction, but it’s not his fault she’s so damn pretty). 

When she calls his name, he gets up and takes the drink and muffin from her, smiling at the little doodle she’d put on the cup. He sits back down and takes a sip of the latte, and _thank god_ it actually tastes good this time. 

And when Jade is closing up the store, she asks him if he wouldn’t mind walking her to her car again and he says he wouldn’t mind at all. And that’s when it starts. 

* * *

Somehow, going to the cafe and seeing Jade every weekend becomes a part of Beck’s routine. She becomes such a vital part of his weekend plans that he starts to reject Andre and Robbie when they try to involve him in something. When they ask, he tells them he’s busy, and he is. 

He’s busy getting up, putting on a flannel (he always wears flannels around her now since she’d mentioned she liked them once), getting his things and then heading to _Wake Up Cafe._ When he arrives, he orders his usual latte, and then spends his hours writing and mostly staring at her, and when closing time comes and Jade locks up the store, he waits for her and walks her to her car. 

This routine is honestly the best part of his week, it certainly beats out the weekday hours he spends in the dreadful campus library writing papers. 

He tells her this one day as they’re walking to her car, his hand rubbing the back of his neck shyly, and she almost seems offended at the thought of him dreading being stuck in a library. 

“I love libraries you know, I even wanted to be a librarian at one point” she tells him, her nose pointing upwards and it’s slightly tinted pink from the chilly weather and he doesn’t have the heart to tell her she looks more cute rather than threatening. 

“Yeah well, if you were there then I wouldn’t consider it such a shitty place to be stuck at” he says with a sly look on his face. And he just barely misses it, but she blushes at him. He’s not sure if it’s from the cold weather or what he’d said to her, but she blushes nonetheless. 

He’s started to notice that they’re always flirting, whether it be witty looks at each other or softs smiles, they’re flirting. He also notices that it’s not a physical attraction he has towards her anymore, well not _just_ that, because Jade’s also funny, and sarcastic, and intelligent. And seeing her every weekend now has less to do with staring at her, and more to do with admiring what she has to say and listening to her talk. 

He’s positive he’s never felt like this about someone before. Not Angelina Zimerson from seventh grade English class, not Rachel Willows with the kind smile from junior year, and not Shellby Tyson who he had as his chemistry lab partner last year. 

No, he’s never felt this way about a person like he has about Jade West (he learned her last name was West when he made a joke one day about her lying to be 5’7 and actually being smaller, so she whipped out her drivers license and shoved it in his face to prove him wrong). He’s certain Jade’s the type of girl you meet once in a lifetime and he undoubtedly knows he owes the universe for introducing her to him. 

And on the seventh Saturday in a row that he goes to the cafe, he enters and a soft-paced song is playing over the store speaker’s lightly. Jade is standing at the counter, her hip leaning against it as she holds open a book, her other hand twirling a curl around her finger. The shop is pretty much empty besides an elderly couple in the back, and Jade sings along to the song carelessly.

When he reaches the counter to order, she sets down her book and peers up at him, still singing ever so slightly. He realizes he recognizes the song playing and starts to sing back, his voice lower and shyer than hers. 

And after she’s taken his order and given it to him, he notices she’s written some of the song’s lyrics written next to his name on the cup and they share a smile before he goes to start writing. 

And later in the evening when he walks her to her car, the wind blows against them strongly, moving her hair and causing her to rub her hands together hastily. He fights the urge to take ahold of her hands within his, goes against his desire to interlace their fingers together. Maybe it’s fear that she’ll reject him, or pull away, but he stops himself. And when they’ve said goodbye, he kind of regrets it. 

It feels naïve to think that she doesn’t feel the same way about him, he’s pretty positive that she does, with her not-so-subtle gestures and looks. But he can’t stop himself from feeling nervous. 

He knows he likes her, he _really_ likes her, maybe even _more than_ likes her by now. 

And next weekend, he decides, he’ll finally do something about it when he sees her. 

He’ll finally ask her out. 

* * *

There’s just one problem, one slight little issue in his way. That next weekend when he goes to the cafe, she’s not there. 

Instead, Cat and their other friend from a few weeks ago are in her place. Both standing near the register as Cat messes around with a calculator and the other girl flips through a textbook. They both look extremely bored, considering how empty the shop is, but when they notice him coming forward, their faces light up with amusement. 

_“Romeo”_ the brunette starts out with a devilish smirk, closing the textbook in front of her. 

At first, Beck thinks she’s talking to someone else, but after seeing there’s nobody behind him, he’s definite that she’s speaking to him. 

“Yeah, I’m talking to you” she laughs, “you’re Jade’s boy, right?”

“I’m not-” he clears his voice uncomfortably, “-I’m not _her_ boy” 

“Unfortunately” Cat pipes up and the brunette elbows her to stop talking, her hair moving in the process of the nudge. The shift of her brunette locks make it so Beck can finally read her name tag, and he learns that her name is Tori. 

“Where’s Jade?” he asks them, rocking back and forth on his heels, starting to feel a little nervous under both of their stares. 

“She’s sick” Cat frowns.

“Yeah she woke up with a fever, pretty sure she’s got the stomach bug that’s been going around. She called this morning and said she couldn’t make it, sounded pretty disappointed” Tori adds on. 

“Yeah, I’d be sad too if I was sick” Beck nods understandably.

Cat giggles at that, trying to cover her mouth in attempts of hiding it as Tori scowls at him with an eye roll. 

“That’s not why she’s disappointed, _genius_ ” 

“What do you mean?”

“God” Tori rolls her eyes again and gently slams her hands down on the counter. She looks him right in the eye and it almost feels piercing, her brown eyes boring into his, “look, do you like Jade or not?”

“Of course I like her!”

“She means do you _like her_ like her?” Cat says with a chuckle, batting her eyes adorably. 

“ _Like her_ like her?” Beck asks mockingly, somewhat teasing them but it doesn’t bother Cat or Tori, “are we back in middle school or something?”

“We’re only asking you this because she likes you” Cat grins.

“Yeah, we don’t understand why, but she likes you a lot. She never shuts up about you and we always have to suffer through hearing about how you never get her hints” Tori backs her up. 

This is where Beck gets confused. _Hints?_

Other than the flirting they do and the occasional free coffee she gives him, Beck’s 100% positive Jade hadn’t been dropping hints for anything specific. Unless the flirting and the free coffee are the hints Cat and Tori are talking about. 

“Hints for what?” He challenges them. 

“She wants you to ask her out!” Tori cries out in exasperation, throwing her hands up as Cat continues to giggle.

Luckily, the shop’s empty besides the three of them so Tori’s outburst doesn't bother any customers, but it’s still abrupt. And being under Tori and Cat’s intense gazes, like they’re studying him, is making him uneasy. And right now all he wants is to be back at his apartment, or at least a part of him wants that. 

His heart however, never wants to leave this moment. The moment where he finally gets the confirmation that Jade wants him to ask her out as much as he wants to ask her out. The confirmation that if she were here right now and he were to ask the question he’d been dying to ask her since they’d met, she would say yes. 

“Oh” he lets out, a small smile taking over his face.

“Yeah” Tori shrugs mindlessly.

“So are you going to ask her out?” Cat speaks up, giddily bouncing up and down (Beck’s noticed she does that a lot).

“I can’t tell you that” he breaks eye contact with the two of them, looking down at the ground instead.

“Why can’t you tell us?” Cat whimpers.

“Because that’s a personal question and I don’t want you guys going off and tattletaling to Jade!”

 _“Tattletale”_ Tori is the one to mock him this time, “what are we back in elementary school or something?”

Beck decides to ignore Tori’s remark, pulling out his wallet instead, “can I just get a black coffee to go please?” He knows it’s not what he usually orders, but he figures getting Jade’s typical drink will make up for her absence (just a little bit).

“You must’ve picked up the drinking black coffee from Jade” Tori triumphantly smirks.

“You’re not staying this time?” Cat asks at the same time. 

“Nah” Beck looks around the empty, dim-lighted cafe, “place isn’t the same without Jade.”

They both smile sympathetically at him this time, Cat rings up his order while Tori makes it. And when Tori reaches over to give it to him, she keeps her hand on the cup for a split second longer. 

“Just don’t hurt Jade, okay?” she pleads with him, hesitant and yet firm at the same time, Cat giving him the same begging look. 

“I wouldn’t dream of it” Beck determinedly nods at them, accepting the coffee from Tori’s hands before leaving the shop and driving back home. 

He knows what he does dream of though _. Her._ He’s dreamed of her so much it’s starting to seem like she’s out of his reach, like she’s something he’d made up in his mind. But he knows she’s real, what he feels for her is too intense for it to not be real. 

He’s positive he’s in love with her, even though he can’t tell her that (at least not right now), but he’ll be able to ask her a simple question, one he already knows the answer to. 

* * *

The next Saturday, Andre and Robbie plead him to stay home and run lines with them, but he declines. He really can’t stay home today. Because today’s the day he asks Jade out. 

He tries to drive to the shop faster than he usually would (after all it’s been fourteen days since he’s last seen her), but he’s aware he could crash if he goes any more over the speed limit than he already is and slows down. 

When he arrives, he parks his car, grabs his bag and walks across the street to the shop. The first thing he sees when steps inside is Jade standing at the counter. 

She looks beautiful, even more so than usual. She’s wearing a black sweater that matches her black jeans, and to hold back the curls that are falling in front of her face, there’s a black ribbon tied in her hair. 

When the bell over the door rings as he enters, she looks up from the book she’d been reading and gives him a hopeful look, as if she’d been waiting for him. 

“Hi” she says to him when he gets close enough to the counter, still smiling, “I didn’t know if you were coming in today.”

“Course I was coming” he tilts forward, resting a hand on the counter, getting closer to her, “I missed you last week.”

“Eh I didn’t miss you as much” she sarcastically jokes, getting a chuckle from Beck.

“I’m guessing you’re feeling better though.”

Jade nods, running a hand through her hair while inching closer to him, “I was pretty motivated to get back here.”

“Oh yeah?” Beck asks and he knows for sure that he’s hardcore flirting with her right now, just by the way his voice sounds, “why?”

“Oh you know, I’m really passionate about coffee” she bites her lip and he’s aware that the only thing stopping him from leaning in to kiss her right now is the countertop between them. 

He asks for his usual order (vanilla latte with milk and honey) and then goes to his regular table, writing a bit before Jade calls him back to the register. 

When he reaches out to take his order from Jade’s hand, she nervously smiles but then pulls the cup back, “you’re walking me to my car later, right?”

“I’m counting on it” he responds with a grin, and that’s when Jade gives in and hands him the cup. 

It’s become practice for him to look at the cup after she’s given it to him, he usually finds a small doodle or song lyric written on it, but this time it’s different. Instead of finding the usual, he discovers a phone number on it. _Her phone number._

He looks up from the cup and sees her staring at him, she flirtatiously smiles and then sends him a wink before grabbing Cat and disappearing into the back. 

And when he sits back down, he knows he should keep on writing, but he can’t. Because every time he tries, he gets distracted with the numbers she’d put on his cup and then that’s all his mind can focus on, _her._

The rest of the day goes by surprisingly fast, he writes as much as he can (it’s still a struggle) and smiles back when Jade smiles at him, but other than that, it’s pretty normal. When it reaches 6pm and it’s time for Jade to close up the shop, he’s finishing up a chapter and his heart is beating rapidly against his chest. 

Jade stops wiping down a table when she notices his nervous posture, “are you okay?” she asks with a laugh. 

“Yeah, I’m good” he nods, trying to stop himself from looking even more nervous than he is. 

When Jade’s finished cleaning up, she comes over to his table. As he packs up his things, her eyes land on the coffee cup from this morning. 

“Are you going to throw that away?” she points at the cup and he quickly nods, handing it over to her. He notices her face fall a little as she puts the cup into the trash and he realizes what having her throw away the cup with her number on it implies. 

She goes over to grab her things before leading them both outside, and when she’s locking the doors, he blurts out-

“I don’t want you to think I threw away your phone number.”

She shifts away from the door, looking at him with curious eyes as if what he’d said was startling. 

“I put your number in my phone, I didn’t throw it away” he further explains, handing his phone over to her so she can scroll down to her name in his contacts. 

When she sees her name, she tries to hide her smile from coming through but he takes notice of it anyways. 

Handing his phone back to him, she quips, “you’re such an idiot.”

“At least I’m an idiot that you like” he remarks. 

“Sadly” she sighs with teasing despair. 

When they’re walking to her car, she questions, “so what are you writing anyways?”

“A novel” he looks down sheepishly and that’s when it hits him that even after all this time of knowing each other, they’ve never discussed what he’s been writing. They’ve talked about their families, and their friends, and have shared random stories, but they’ve never talked about his book. The thing that brought him to the bookstore, _and to her,_ in the first place, they’ve never brought up.

“What’s it about?” she wonders and he feels like there’s a hint of excitement in her tone.

“It’s a coming of age novel. It’s about this boy in highschool who goes to a diner every day just to see this girl he met there, and eventually they become friends.”

“Just friends?”

He looks down at her and sees an amused, expecting gleam in her eyes. 

“Guess you’ll just have to read it and find out” he grins and she rolls her eyes. 

“I’ll be the first one to buy it then, what inspired you to write it?”

 _You_ is the first thing that comes to mind, but he stops himself from saying that. 

“I don’t really know, just my highschool life pretty much” he lies, but then adds on, “the coffee shop inspired me too.”

“The shop and I better have a spot in the acknowledgments section” she nudges him and then they both register that they’ve reached her car. 

She’s about to unlock her car and step inside it, but he stops her. Making her face him, he places a hand on her arm and says, “can I be honest with you?”

“I always want you to be honest with me” she responds, tucking her hands into her coat pockets. 

“That coffee I had on the first day really sucked.”

Her first reaction is to be offended, eyes widening as her mouth goes agape and she smacks him in the arm. But then she starts to laugh and he joins her, and soon enough they’re a laughing mess, almost falling over. 

“If it sucked so much, why did you come back the next week?”

“Honestly, I really wanted to see you again” he tells her and she takes a step closer to him.

“If we’re being honest right now, can I tell you something too?” he takes a step closer to her at that, gesturing for her to tell him. 

“I was planning on quitting that day” she admits, elaborating when he shows confusion, “that first day you came in, I wanted to quit, the only reason I didn’t was because I wanted to see you again too.”

“Seriously?” 

“Dead serious” she responds bluntly, but a smile cracks through. And seeing her smile like that is when he knows now’s the time. 

“Jade I want to go out with you” he lets out, all in one breath.

She grins at that and bites her lip, a blush breaking through as she nods enthusiastically. 

Noticing her nod, he says “so is that a yes? A yes that you’ll go out with me?”

“Took you long enough to ask” she takes a hand out of her coat pocket and intertwines their fingers together, “so where are you bringing me on this date?”

“Hmm I don’t know” he raises his eyebrows and looks around, pretending to think, “I heard there’s a cute coffee place around here somewhere-”

“Beck-” she stops him with a laugh, bringing up their connected hands to whack against his chest. And as she’s pressing their hands against his chest in amusement, his other hand comes up to her cheek and brings her in. 

The last thing he sees before his lips meet hers is the flutter of her eyelashes as they close and he smiles into the kiss. 

He learns that her lip gloss is cherry flavored and it’s probably a coincidence that it happens to be his favorite fruit, but it feels right. 

Everything feels right at this moment, like all had been set right in the universe and now everything was perfect. 

She grabs his arm to draw him closer to her and when they separate to catch their breath, their eyes open at the same time and they see each other. 

Her smile is wide and her deep blue eyes are glowing underneath the sunset and her cheeks are bright pink, contrasting with her usually pale skin and _wow._ He decides right then and there that he'll never get tired of seeing her. 

* * *

And one year later, when they’re sitting on his couch, they open up his novel together and she’s the first one to see his acknowledgments page.

_To Jade, my inspiration always, I hope this makes up for all the free coffees you gave me and the endless amount of hours I spent in the cafe, I love you._

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed (i skipped my chemistry class for this, oops) go drink some coffee and listen to good music now :) love always


End file.
